Life in the BRIARPATCH

Article first published as TV Review: BRIARPATCH on Seat42F.

USA has a new stylized mystery drama entitled BRIARPATCH. A police officer and landlord is blown up in her patrol car in her own hometown. When the officer’s sister, Allegra Dill, returns and begins asking questions, it soon becomes clear that there is no shortage of criminal activity and quite a few secrets in what otherwise appears to be a sleepy town, and it’s going to take awhile to find the truth. Allegra is determined to stay as long as it takes, though others would like to claim her time.

Rosario Dawson (Luke Cage, Rent) stars as Allegra, and it is well past time Dawson had her own starring role. She is a fine actress, and excels at adding subtle complexity into any part, be it comedy or drama-based. She has a way of seemingly tough and vulnerable simultaneously, which makes Allegra so much more interesting than the hero archetype. She is magnetic on screen.

The rest of the cast in the pilot is lesser-known, other than Jay R. Ferguson (Mad Men) as Jake Spivey. But USA’s website reveals Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) and Kim Dickens (Fear the Walking Dead) are involved, and those already present from the beginning seem solid. Edi Gathegi (The Blacklist) stands out as Singe, whose allegiance is murky, but he seems relatively reliable, as far as any local is.

Apart from Dawson, the best thing BRIARPATCH has going for it is the tone. It feels a bit noir, though firmly set in the present. It’s definitely slow-burn, but not so slow as, say, The Killing. The atmosphere is of a specific time and place, and although it’s a little hyper-realistic, it’s also grounded. There’s an underlying bizarreness, best exemplified by the escaped zoo animals seen around town, that doesn’t go as far as Twin Peaks, but still makes it seem like this won’t be a typical detective show, either. (True, Allegra isn’t technically a detective, but it’s pretty obvious that she’s a detective.) Surprise twists seem like they’ll be a regular thing.

The questions pile up immediately and get deep pretty fast, starting with how Allegra’s sister afforded the building she owned on her police salary. The town itself is full of shady characters, with each person we meet hiding something. They likely aren’t all sinister, but it’s impossible to know who should be trusted from the start. Below the surface level of the central case, there is a lot going on with Allegra herself, from her past with rich guy Jay, to her current fling with a married Senator (Enrique Murciano, Bloodline). Neither of these things are explained explicitly, but seem to be connected, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tied into the murder of Allegra’s sister.

The biggest weakness of BRIARPATCH is just how connected everything is. I mean, why is Allegra’s outside life and career following her back to her hometown? Sure, there could be a reasonable explanation for it, but it seems a stretch. And if all the various moving pieces right now end up related, as feels likely based on the connections drawn from the pilot, that could end up hurting the realism of the piece.

That being said, I found BRIARPATCH very enjoyable. If I still had cable, it would definitely be on my recording list, and if I find it convenient on streaming, I’ll probably binge it. Dawson alone makes it worth it, and I like the writing and style of the piece. With hardly a smile to be seen, it somehow still manages to be fun. And it certainly looks like it’ll be put together cohesively, a very important feature in the current era.

BRIARPATCH airs Mondays at 11/10c on USA.

Going on a MYTHIC QUEST

Article first published as TV Review: MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN'S BANQUET on Seat42F.

A new sitcom on AppleTV+ is MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANQUET. Set at a video game developer whose sole product seems to be the titular Mythic Quest, the team releases the first expansion in the pilot, subtitled Raven’s Banquet. But the show isn’t about the game; not really. It’s about the various personalities who work there. Many represent archetypes, but there’s also a lived-in, complex element to nearly every lead that should not only serve to help people better understand one another, but also shine a spotlight on those who are too quick too judge. Also, it’s hilarious.

The creative genius behind the in-show MYSTIC QUEST is Ian (Rob McElhenney, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). He hides in his massive, above-everyone-else office, and manipulates (purposefully?) them into doing what he wants. This is very frustrating to Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao, Kuu Kuu Harajuku), the actual coder who builds the game for him, and who wants to put her own thumbprint on it. David (David Hornsby, Good Girls) is the ineffectual boss caught in the middle of this struggle, and who surprisingly doesn’t always side with Ian. This feels like it may be the central conflict of the show, and is a delight right off the bat, with Ian and Poppy’s division not nearly as clear cut as it at first seems.

They are surrounded by a bevy of other colorful characters. Jo (Jessie Ennis, Better Call Saul) is David’s new assistant who worships and enables Ian. Tester Rachel (Ashly Burch, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes) has a massive crush on fellow tester Dana (Imani Hakim, Everybody Hates Chris), who is fully committed and focused on the job. Brad (Danny Pudi, Community) may just be evil. HR Carol (Naomi Ekperigin, Broad City writer) wishes everyone would stop treating her like a therapist. Pootie Shoe (Elisha Henig, The Sinner) is the obnoxious child reviewer who decides if the game lives or dies. And the great F. Murray Abraham, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Amadeus) is CW Longbottom, the alcoholic, eccentric writer behind the game.

Not all of these actors in MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANQUET are well-known, but it is an extremely solid ensemble. Each brings something great to the plate, and none feels in over their heads. They embody the douchebag, the naïve young adult, the frustrated bureaucrat, and so many others who actually work at places like this – or any workplace, anywhere. It’s a different set of personalities than The Office or Silicon Valley, but it’s still highly relatable, especially in how each individual has rich, inner lives. Whether they be enthusiastic dreamers or cynical paycheck collectors, they know how they fit into the overall picture, and do a great job showing the audience that.

It’s also just a solid win in the humor department. Much of the pilot is spent arguing over a shovel. Is a plain shovel too boring? Or does it transform the way gamers will interact with the world in an exciting new bend? Should it be flashy? Should it have dual purpose as a weapon? You can extend all of these questions into metaphor for so much else about our culture. But you will also chuckle as Ian struggles to smash a watermelon just the right way, or Brad finds a way to make it sexual. You’ll relate to Poppy’s pure love and devotion to it. I could write a whole review about the damn thing, and that’s just one element of episode one.

I love MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANUQET. It’s magnetic, entertaining, and not just banal triviality. It’s that rare show that feels like it could just be dumb humor, but ends up being so much more. It should appear to viewers of all types.

Stream MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANUQET now exclusively on AppleTV+.

Peachy KEENE

Article first published as TV Review: KATY KEENE on Seat42F.

Note: The review only covers the pilot of the series.

The CW’s newest drama is KATY KEENE. A spin-off of Riverdale set in the Big Apple, it’s about a group of young adults looking to fulfill their career and relationship aspirations. Less highly stylized than the mothership, though still with a healthy dose of hyper-reality and charm, and carrying over one established supporting character, this show should be really good. And it probably would be if not for awful writing.

The fault lies not in the performances. Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) is spunky, cheery, and thoroughly convincing as Katy Keene. Ashleigh Murray’s Josie McCoy feels like a second lead, which makes sense, given that she’s already been developed on Riverdale and should have a prominent role in the new venture. These two are strong enough to hang a show on.

The supporting characters are also delightful. Pepper Smith (Julia Chan, Saving Hope) is the worldly, wild woman with sage advice. Jorge / Ginger Lopez (Jonny Beauchamp, Penny Dreadful) is easy to root for. Francois (Nathan Lee Graham, LA to Vegas) has the early 00s gay best friend vibe now in a boss suit. Gloria Grandbilt (Katherine LaNasa, Truth Be Told) and Amanda (Helene Yorke, Masters of Sex) are deliciously awful villains. KO (Zane Holtz, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series) serves his role as eye candy and dutiful boyfriend, and Alexander Cabot (Lucien Laviscount, Snatch) seems like he’ll be a slightly better-developed version of that.

But those supporting characters get to the heart of the problem. Their characters revolve solely around the leads. They don’t seem to have their own lives and personalities separate from interacting with Josie and, primarily, Katy. They exist only to further her plot, and so the world feels a lot less realized than other shows on the air right now.

Similarly, KATY KEENE goes for emotional payoff over a story that makes sense. Katy rebels against a boss and immediately gets a dream job with encouragement to pursue her talents. Ginger gets to tell off a jerk casting director in a speech that, in different context, would feel arrogant and coming from spoiled brat, sure to get him blackballed before his career even begins. If Pepper is so worldly, why is she spending every evening hanging out with Katy? Amanda and Gloria are written to be self-obsessed, but we only see them doing so in ways to hurt our protagonist, and the way high school peers would, not adults.

There is plenty of room for a fairy tale on the airwaves, and you could definitely call KATY KEENE that. If it committed more fully to the hyperreality stylings of Riverdale or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, it might even be easier to overlook how it thumbs its nose at reality because that would signal to the audience that what they’re watching is not in any way tied to the world we know. Yet, because KATY KEENE feels grounded in an actual place and time, it clashes with those sensibilities and instead feels half-finished at best, or cartoonish at worse. And the fact that so many of the characters are paper-thin is the final nail.

Might the series get better in subsequent installments? Absolutely. A bit of retooling, and this could be something worth watching. But the blatant bad-ness of the pilot turned me off in a major way to the point that I don’t even care enough to watch the second episode and see how the cliffhanger resolves. In a landscape with less quality programming, I’d give it more of a chance because it is spun off of a show I enjoy. But in the current climate, there’s just no room for a show that doesn’t know what it is, or can’t make up its mind.

KATY KEENE airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.

UnLOCKE With a KEY

Article first published as TV Review: LOCKE & KEY on Seat42F.

Netflix now has season one of LOCKE & KEY, a new drama adapted from a graphic novel series. After the horrific murder of the Locke family’s patriarch, the rest of the clan move all the way across the country to their family estate, Key House. The house is old and mysterious, and is soon discovered to host a bunch of magic keys, each with their own special property. Magic can be wonderous, but it also be dangerous, as the Locke children soon find out.

The tone and style of this show makes clear even before the scary elements show up that horror will be a major part of the show. It’s highly stylized, like a number of strong horror contenders of recent years, with the fantasy component overlaid. This combo isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for sure, but to my sensibilities, if you can mix these two in a quality manner, you’ve got a solid starting point for a series. LOCKE & KEY succeeds on this front, instantly being a show that draws you in and makes you want to learn about its world.

Children-led programs are a whole other can of worms, and in my opinion, harder to make work, Lemony Snicket and Stranger Things aside. However, LOCKE & KEY does this decently well, too. It might help that the two older children, Tyler (Connor Jessup, Falling Skies) and Kinsey (Emilia Jones, Utopia), are teenagers. It might also help that Jessup, at age twenty-five, is actually well into adulthood, and Jones will be eighteen by the time a second season is filmed. They play younger characters convincingly, but also have some prior experience that has helped them become good performers. The youngest Locke, Bode (Jackson Robert Scott, It), is also pretty decent.

The rules LOCKE & KEY have for children and adults are confusing, though. After experiencing the effect of a key, their mother, Nina (Darby Stanchfield, Scandal), quickly loses all memory of the thing. And yet, it’s pretty clear that their father, Rendell (Bill Heck, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), remembered, as does their uncle Duncan (Aaron Ashmore, Killjoys), who is still around. Other adults do, too, so it’s not just a bloodline thing. Perhaps the inconsistency will be explained eventually, but in the first few episodes, it detracts from the believability of the world.

The primary villain revealed so far is Dodge (Laysla De Oliveira, The Gifted), who was introduced as Bode’s echo in a well before tricking him into letting her out and giving her a key that can take her anywhere. She seems convincingly sinister, even if she doesn’t kill the child right away, and her connection to the Locke kids’ dad’s killer leaves many unanswered questions. I think it’s hard to strike terror without being cartoonish when dealing with a bad guy who battles kids, but De Oliveira does it, delivering a stand-out performance in the show.

I will say, LOCKE & KEY doesn’t overall feel like a kids’ show, and that’s to its credit. It’s certainly not geared for young children to watch, with actual harm and violence. I could use a little more development for Nina and Duncan, but while watching, I often forget that most of the characters on screen are minors. The story is compelling enough to stand on its own in the genre, and doesn’t feel like it needs that extra hook, and so doesn’t put any great focus on it. I appreciate that.

I’m slightly torn on LOCKE & KEY, mostly because of the major weakness pointed out above. But it has a lot going for it, and like I said, the specific style of it appeals to me very much, so I’ll keep going. If you’d like to join me, you can stream all ten episodes of the first season now on Netflix.

PICARD Engages

Article first published as TV Review: STAR TREK: PICARD on Seat42F.

I am a huge STAR TREK fan from way back. Even when I didn’t watch much television, I watched STAR TREK (admittedly, mostly the films and spin-offs; I was an 80s kid). I mourned it when it went away, and forced myself to be excited by the movie reboots of the last decade, even though I now admit that only one of the three is any good. (It’s Star Trek: Beyond, for the record, despite a few flaws.)

So when CBS All Access started bringing STAR TREK back, I was super excited. I mean, not about All Access, which is an overpriced gouging of Trek fans. But about the content. Star Trek: Discovery is amazing, a fitting evolution of the franchise that honors the legacy. The Short Treks series are more of a departure, sometimes experimental, but also very good on the whole.

And now, we have STAR  TREK: PICARD. Jean-Luc Picard is one of my favorite characters, and Patrick Stewart is a fine actor inside and outside of Trek. It’s a tall order to continue his story, and the modernization of Star Trek as evidenced by Discovery and Short Treks, not to mention Stewart’s own standards, demanded it be more than just a continuation of The Next Generation.

Three episodes in, it is succeeding admirably by just about every measure. Stewart is delivering a mesmerizing performance that imagines a future very different for Jean-Luc than where we left him, but in line with The Next Generation series finale, “All Good Things,” and the Romulan and Starfleet developments we know about in the intervening years. It’s a slow burn mystery, perfect for Picard the Dixon Hill fan. It embraces the aging themes of the excellent Kirk-led motion pictures, and also tells us something completely new. It’s a character study of a man who has been disillusioned and dissatisfied, but is determined to restore himself to someone he can live with before he dies. Yet, desperation is not present, instead showing his core personality tempted by discovery.

If that were all STAR TREK: PICARD was, it would be enough. And yet, it’s not. It’s a truly interesting story of Romulan politics and lore, a feat because I never found the species all that intriguing. It brings in lots of hanging plot threads from The Next Generation that I wish had been explored in a more serial nature and now they get to be. Data (Brent Spiner) is dead, but his presence haunts Picard and informs the current story, with dream sequence cameos feeling meaningful and necessary, not gratuitous, especially that perfect opening of the show with the Enterprise-D rendered more beautiful than it ever has been before. We hear again about Dr. Maddox (he’s got to be coming back, right?), Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco), the Borg, and so much more. Thank goodness, they left B4 in a drawer, right where he deserves to be.

The new characters are as equally fascinating as the lead. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd, Blindspot) and Chris Rios (Santiago Cabrera, Big Little Lies) are new versions of Starfleet officers, those no longer with the service for traumatic reasons, a character type hinted at in Deep Space 9 and echoing Picard’s current status. Soji (Isa Briones, Takers) is deliciously unpredictable and hard to define yet. Narek (Harry Treadaway, Penny Dreadful), Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita, The Good Doctor), and Lt. Rizzo (Peyton List, Mad Men) are a cadre of magnetic villains. Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill, The Newsroom) is terrific heart and comic relief. I love Zhaban (Jamie McShane, Bloodline), and Laris (Orla Brady, Fringe) has quickly become one of my favorite Trek characters of all time. I will be heartbroken if we don’t check back in with those latter two in the vineyard as the season progresses. Also, Voyager’s Seven (Jeri Ryan) hasn’t even made her much-anticipated return yet, which will surely be great.

By finding the most promising bits of TNG to continue and letting the story and situations evolve as circumstances and modernity demand, STAR TREK: PICARD is a triumph and perfect example of how to do a continuation decades after the original. It has something new to say, but is very much rooted in the existing mythology. It makes us rethink the TNG episodes as we realize the idyllic future we all admired from that show existed on the Enterprise, but not everywhere else (as DS9 also pointed out). It’s truly an amazing series that I am totally hooked on because of strong writing, direction, acting, and perspective.

Like I said before, All Access sucks in its pricing and depth of offerings. But you can’t miss this show, so I recommend you do as I have done, suck it up, and just give CBS your money. STAR TREK: PICARD deserves to be seen.

New episodes currently release Thursdays on the streaming service.

TOMMY Review

Article first published as TV Review: TOMMY on Seat42F.

The new CBS drama TOMMY is about the first female police chief of police in Los Angeles. In this fictional story, the mayor is forced to fire the previous chief after lots of scandal comes to light, from the chief’s own affairs, to officers under his command being involved in illicit sexual activities. Not all of the cops agree with the dismissal, so our hero, Abigail “Tommy” Thomas, has her work cut out for her.

Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos) stars as the titular character. Falco is amazing in everything she does. She conveys so much subtlety and nuance, and acts the hell out of each scene. Even in the pilot, there are layers to her performance, especially in Tommy’s extremely complicated relationship with estranged daughter Kate Jones (Olivia Lucy Phillip), as well as her interactions with the mayor, Buddy Gray (Thomas Sadoski, The Newsroom), who is careful to avoid taking too firm on a position on anything he doesn’t have to. There is a lot for Falco to work with in those scenes.

There are also some wonderful supporting cast members. Sadoski is a favorite of mine, and Buddy is a terrific role for him. I enjoy Ken Rosey (Michael Chernus, Orange Is the New Black) as lawyer / speechwriter Ken Rosey, who adds a layer of optimism and idealism into the plot. Russell G. Jones (The Americans) is solid as stalwart Donn Cooper. Vladimir Caamano (Runaways) is delightfully playful as Tommy’s protection and unofficial advisor, Abnar Diaz.

I really want to like this show because it is pleasingly political. Tommy and Buddy aren’t enemies in the traditional sense, but in many ways, they’re locked in a struggle. There are interesting turns, like when Buddy’s guy Doug Dudik (Joseph Lyle Taylor, Sneaky Pete) attempts to hurt Tommy while colluding with the former chief, Milt Leakey (Corbin Bernsen, Psych), and instead helps her. Tommy’s dealings with ICE are inspiring, and her scene with Blake Sullivan (Adelaide Clemens, Rectify) about sexism in the work place is touching.

Yet, there’s definitely something missing from TOMMY. Part of it is how manipulative those latter two bits from the paragraph are, feeling designed to play with viewers’ emotions more than tell a fresh story. There’s also a strong element of procedural, as occurs far too often with CBS dramas, which drags it down. Not to mention, there’re a lot of familiar aspects to the story that have shown up in plenty of other programs as of late, which doesn’t help the originality factor. I can’t help but wonder how much better TOMMY would be if it were penned by Aaron Sorkin, as the drama seems to share a bit of DNA with his works, but pales in comparison.

For the record, TOMMY isn’t bad and I haven’t given up on it yet. FOX’s Deputy, which premiered a few weeks earlier, is in the same vein, and I’m watching both to see if either wins out as the better series, or if either earns a season pass on my TiVo. If TOMMY (or Deputy) embraces the character study element in a significant way and puts that at the center most weeks rather than running down this baddie or that on, they could be very good. But if they play to what they think the “common viewer” wants, they’ll never be anything more than easy escapism.

At the moment, TOMMY has a leg up over DEPUTY because of Falco, whom I have to mention again is just so darn good. But she wouldn’t be the first lauded performer to take a role that is beneath her. I’m not saying Tommy is beneath Falco, because on paper, there’s a lot in Tommy’s favor. But I fear that could end up being the case. Only time will tell.

TOMMY airs Thursdays at 10/9c on CBS.

Wake Up to THE MORNING SHOW

Article first published as THE MORNING SHOW: TV REVIEW at Seat42F.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the first three episodes.

One of Apple TV+’s new dramas is THE MORNING SHOW. Set at a Good Morning America type of series, the program follows anchors past and present as they navigate through the current political climate and their own ambitions. Featuring an all-star cast, this is probably the best program I’ve seen from the brand-new streaming service so far.

As the pilot begins, sexual harassment charges go public against veteran anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell, The Office). The network reacts quickly, firing him. Producer Chip Black (Mark Duplass, Togetherness) is thrown because he was preparing to let go Mitch’s on-air partner, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston, Friends), go for being past her prime (in talent, not age). All this drama excites the new head of news for the network, Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup, Watchmen), and other anchors like Yanko (Nestor Carbonell, Bates Motel), Daniel (Desean Terry), and Alison (Janina Gavankar, The League) want the empty seat. But it’s little known, passionate, online sensation Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies) that swoops in and takes the spot.

The plot of THE MORNING SHOW is beyond juicy. It has the #MeToo controversy that is still so relevant, but also all manner of scheming and backstabbing. While none of the characters come off as unlikeable, there is plenty of insecurity and ambition. Besides those mentioned above, behind-the-scenes staff Hannah (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Touch) and Mia (Karen Pittman, Luke Cage) seem like key players, as does Alex’s secretly estranged husband, Jason (Jack Davenport, Smash). So there’s no shortage of participants, and not all of their motivations are immediately clear.

Add to all the individual concerns, there’s the business perspective of a network and a popular, but struggling, series that that must be taken into consideration. The Morning Show is losing ground to competitor Audra (Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project) and looking to shake things up; Cory himself is a new approach. So even before Mitch blows everything up, there’s tension. But with this latest development, no easy way out is apparent, leaving the cast to fight amongst one another.

What’s more, there are actual questions of journalism and responsibility layered in. Bradley is temperamental, to be sure, but there’s a level of genuineness and naivety to her role. She believes in the profession and the mission, and doesn’t like being used as a pawn, which she’s smart enough to pick up on immediately. Will she bring back what The Morning Show needs to rise again, or will it chew her up and force her to be something she isn’t? And which needs to happen for the show to succeed? This isn’t The Newsroom, after all, and drama can equal ratings.

Perhaps the toughest part for some to swallow is the effort made to humanize Mitch. It’s very easy to write him off as soon as the rumors start, and the all-too-ripped-from-the-headlines button under his desk does him no favors. But then, in the third installment, Mitch is talking to his high-profile friend (Martin Short, Saturday Night Live) about snap judgments and nuance, and there’s a moment where some may start to feel sorry for Mitch. Not because his behavior was excusable (it isn’t), but because he truly doesn’t know why he’s been taken down, or how what he did was wrong. Should inappropriate consensual relationships be a death knell for a career? As a straight, white man, I refuse to weigh in on that and I certainly understand how some may have no sympathy for him, but I’m fascinated by the questions raised. What is an appropriate punishment for the details of his case?

Reviews for THE MORNING SHOW have been mixed, but I like it. It’s smart, it’s quick, and it makes you think about things we should all be considering more carefully than we usually do. Catch it now on Apple TV+.

UnderSEE

Article first published as SEE: TV REVIEW on Seat42F.

Part of Apple TV+’s slate of programming, SEE is a post-apocalyptic drama about tribes of blind people warring over mystical things, such as a pair of twin babies who can see. Plenty of battles and lots of animals skins and furs, it’s a show that appears to take place hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, while actually having a slight futuristic sci-fi aspect to its fantasy.

Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Aquaman) capably stars as Baba Voss, leader of a tribe on a hill. Before the series begins, a mysterious woman, Maghra (Hera Hilmar, Da Vinci’s Demons), comes among them and is taken in by Baba, under his personal protection. But when she gives birth to a pair of babies, one male, one female, whom nurse Paris (Alfre Woodard, Luke Cage) says are special, an army of witchfinders threatens the people. Baba and his tribe must flee, and their escape route is supplied by the infants’ unseen true father.

The premise involves disease wiping out most life on Earth and the survivors being left universally blind. SEE is set hundreds of years after these events, but for some reason, the individuals in it live like historical tribal people. Why? Would it not make much more sense than technology was clung to, which would provide assistance for an unseeing people? Would that not be a more reasonable future after such a disaster? And even if technology could not be salvaged, why are most people far away from the remnants of what was? It’s quite late in the pilot before we see any ruins. Would so many people be willing to just walk away? And where are the new trappings of life that would be specific to a totally blind society?

Worse are the battles that are a key part of SEE. Some elements of different fighting are shown for the blind people, with special listeners and sensors. But there are melees typical of modern film, where there is much close hand-to-hand fighting. In such a situation, it would be nearly impossible to tell who is friend and who is foe without some major difference between the peoples. This could be in clothing materials or hair styles or something, but none is obviously present. There’s blind swinging and stabbing, and even some distance throwing of weapons that somehow strike their targets. Some care is given to adjust to the world in the premise, but not nearly enough. The battles don’t feel realistic, unfortunate as they seem to be key to the genre.

Character development is lacking, too. Most of the people are forgettable, blending together. Several warriors stand by Baba when the council of his people threaten to turn against them, but it’s not easy to differentiate between them. The acting is being sold as much as one can, but I don’t think the performers are given much to work with.

It’s not much of a mystery to me why Woodard and Momoa are the only very recognizable faces among these masses. I don’t know who would want to sign on to a half-baked fantasy series so soon after Game of Thrones. Horrible ending aside, GoT left a lot to live up to, and it would be foolish to try to follow it without a solid plan. SEE does not provide such an example. It’s closer to Vikings, which was somewhat good, but wasn’t under the pressure to stand out that this is. It’s hard to see it running very many seasons, even on a brand-new network that is motivated for its earliest shows to succeed.

SEE is not without any redeeming qualities. Production design is interesting, and there are some ideas worth exploring. It just doesn’t do enough to begin strong, and thus is unlikely to be more than a blip in television history, over soon and quickly forgotten.

SEE is currently running on Apple TV+.

Discover LIMETOWN

Article first published as LIMETOWN: TV REVIEW on Seat42F.

I discovered the scripted podcast LIMETOWN shortly after it premiered. I devoured both seasons (despite the long break in between) of the creepy drama about a town of more than 300 people that went missing without a trace, and the investigator with a personal connection seeking to expose the truth. I wasn’t alone, with the feed rising to number one on the charts about two months after its premiere. Now, that podcast is a live action television show, available exclusively on Facebook.

I get it, a show on Facebook, it sounds like a joke. Or some cheap web series of the kind that were popular about ten years ago. LIMETOWN isn’t that. It’s a well-crafted, slow-burn suspense tale with a decent budget and professional presentation. The episodes are half an hour long, and it’s very easy to believe you’re watching it on a cable or streaming service, rather than on social media.

While the actors in the original audio drama were mostly unknowns, the show has recognizable faces. Jessica Biel (The Sinner) stars as Lia Haddock, the journalist from American Public Radio, an NPR-like radio network, that digs into the case. If you haven’t seen Biel’s recent work and still dismiss her as ‘that girl from Seventh Heaven,’ I recommend you check out some of her credits. She’s really fantastic, and this role is no exception, playing a woman on the very edge of insanity and obsession.

Lia has haunting memories of her younger self (Vera Frederickson) interacting with ‘Uncle Emile’ (Stanley Tucci, Spotlight). Emile worked on the Limetown project alongside Dr. Oskar Totem (Alessandro Juliani, the newer Battlestar Galactica) and dozens of other scientists. The town included spouses, children, support staff, even pigs. But they all disappeared during a three-day period, with emergency personnel blocked from entering by private security, and then only Totem’s body found. Where did they go? Are they still alive?

LIMETOWN only really has one lead in Lia, although we sometimes see her boss, Gina (Sherri Saum, The Fosters), and assigned co-worker, Mark (Omar Elba, Berlin, I Love You), as she tracks down Lenore (Janet Kidder, Arrow) and other people hiding in the shadows. I get why the television series felt the need to expand the cast, but I’m glad it didn’t build up those roles too much to distract from the main plot. Although giving Lia a girlfriend (Kandyse McClure, also Battlestar Galactica) does help round out who the protagonist used to be before completely disappearing in her work, which she’s on the verge of when we meet her.

I won’t spoil how season one of the podcast concludes, which I assume will be similar for the show, despite being early in its run, given how faithful the story seems to play out so far. Though, there were only six episodes of that, while there are more for the visual medium, so I expect some more expansion, at the very least. All I will say is Lia’s story is tragic, and I’m really looking forward to seeing if the show follows the second season of the podcast into a somewhat new direction, or doubles down on the journey already being followed.

Without knowing how it ends, though, I am very satisfied with what’s been done so far. The first few episodes are gripping and intense, with a rich tapestry that is more (necessarily) complex than the original while maintaining its spirit. It’s graphic, but not too gory, and scary without relying on the jumps. On its own, it’s fantastic. As an adaptation, it succeeds. This is a show I would want to watch even if I wasn’t already totally engrossed in the story.

Watch LIMETOWN on Facebook, with two new episodes dropping every week, with six already out and another four to come.

LIVING WITH YOURSELF Review

Article first published as TV Review: LIVING WITH YOURSELF on Seat42F.

Looking at the poster of Netflix’s new series LIVING WITH YOURSELF, you might think you know what the show is. After all, Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) has made plenty of comedies, and many of us know what those are. They’re familiar and amusing, but not usually ground-breaking or particularly memorable. I’m not picking on Rudd here, and I enjoy the genre he works in, but there’s a certain predictability to a lot of that resume. Toss in the clone aspect, and it seems like it’ll contain even fewer surprises, with the duplicate jokes having been done on numerous occasions in the past.

If that first paragraph describes your initial thought, as it did mine, you could not be more wrong. LIVING WITH YOURSELF is a very complex and rich tapestry of a world and story, with characters who go through complicated issues and question their identities. It’s funny, sometimes, but that’s beside the point, as it is so much more than that. Like The Good Place, it makes you think about what it means to be a good person, and this one also gets into motivation, the paths not taken, how experience shapes us, the idea of a soul, being one’s best self, and a lot more.

Rudd is excellent as Miles Elliot, maybe the best role in his career thus far. Or rather, roles, as he plays two versions of Elliot. One has been worn out by some tough things in life, frustrated with his job, and fighting with his wife. The other has the exact same memories, but a fresh body unencumbered by aches, pain, and stress, giving him a totally different viewpoint. He’s the idyllic Miles, the person Miles could be if he started over with a clean slate. It’s interesting just how much an attitude makes a different, but it requires a huge thing like being cloned in order to gain that new attitude. It’s a testament to Rudd just how different these two parts seem despite being essentially the same individual.

The cloning process itself opens up all sorts of questions. The operation is secret and shady, and at least some clients don’t realize the operation involves killing the original human after the copy is made. In Miles’ case, an error causes the death not to stick, and thus the problems are born. These two Miles share one car, one job, one social security number, which isn’t a practical way to live. And they both want that one life. Not to mention, the guys that run the cloning experiment (James Seol and Successions’s Rob Yang) have their own stuff going on.

In early episodes, Miles’ wife, Kate (Aisling Bea, The Fall), seems like the one glaring problem with the show. Not because of anything Bea is doing (or not doing), but because she isn’t developed at all, playing a pretty straight-forward, one-note spouse, the type present in so many shows and films. But by the fifth half hour, which centers on Kate, LIVING WITH YOURSELF proves the final piece of its worthiness by giving Bea a showcase to shine. As soon as her part of the story is filled in, the plot gets even better, really fleshing out the world in a needed way. We quickly care as much about her life as we do Miles, and that makes things so much more satisfying.

Other characters, including Miles’ co-worker Dan (Desmin Borges, You’re the Worst) and sister Maia (Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development) add little bits that will surely pay off, and there is a fair amount of mystery baked in, too. It’s a delightful, engaging mess of a world, one that feels very lived in.

I cannot recommend LIVING WITH YOURSELF enough. This show is excellent, stand-out in a landscape filled with great programming, and has something new to say. Season one is streaming on Netflix now, so go check it out.